Defense Drumbeat

Today, Chairman Thornberry (R-TX), of the House Armed Services Committee, joined Fox News to talk about the recent Russia sanctions and the importance of funding the military fully. See some of the Chairman's comments below and watch the whole interview here and below:

What U.S. military funding means to Russia:

"I'd say that an even stronger message, beyond the sanctions and other things, is what we're beginning to do with our military... We need to do better for our military to make sure we're supporting them appropriately, but at the same time it sends a strong message to Russia, North Korea and others that we're going to stand up and defend ourselves."

"So, to support our men and women of the military and also to send a clear message to Russia we need to pass that bill next week."

Why the Omnibus is important:

"There are going to be a number of things in that bill...there will be a number of things I don't like. But to me, the first job of the federal government is to defend the country... We have fallen behind in supporting our men and women adequately. The bill that we're going to vote on next week, for all its flaws, begins to fix those problems and to me that overrides any other concern that anybody has."

Other things the Administration isn't getting credit for:

"They have provided defensive weapons to Ukraine, even though many of us in Congress have been pushing the Obama people to do that for years."